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4/2/2026
“Meeting George Jones”
One of my childhood musical heroes was (and still is) George Jones. Daddy was a big fan too and had many of his albums. I learned dozens of his songs by heart and dreamed of being a country star someday.
One day in 1966, I heard on WDON, one of several all-country radio stations in the Washington area, that Jones would be performing at the racetrack in Laurel, Maryland, that weekend. As soon as daddy got home from work, I asked if he would take me to see George. He told me that he’d love to, but there was no way they would let a nine-year-old into the racetrack grounds. Mom spoke up and said that maybe they would, since there would be no gambling going on during the show. She called WDON the next day, and she was right (as she usually was).
Saturday night finally came and we were off to the races, or at least the racetrack. The concert wasn’t on the track infield, or we would have been watching George from the grandstand. It was off to the side, where the seats were made of boards nailed to tree stumps and the stage was a flatbed trailer. I was expecting something more elegant but it didn’t matter much, as I was right there on the front board. I remember hollering out a request for a song from his latest album. Jones heard me and said he didn’t know the song – that he had read it off the lead sheet in the studio. Oh well – but he actually spoke to ME. Wow!
After the performance, a “photographer” – a guy with a Polaroid, was selling snapshots with George in a little room nearby for fifty cents a shot. Of course, daddy forked over the four bits and I got the picture. George was trying to tickle me to make me smile, I guess. Thanks to my parents, I lived a dream that night.
Photo – George & Me at the Laurel Racetrack, 1966
Tom Mindte
April, 2026